If you’re someone who likes to record TV programs and skip through the commercials — advertisers may be trying harder to get your attention. Iowa State University professor Jay Newell says advertisers are trying to get to you by putting their products right in your favorite program.
Newell says product placement is making a transition from something that was added in as a cross-promotion to a situation where advertisers are paying to have their product featured. Newell, who is an assistant professor of journalism, says this is a whole new way of doing business. He says there was very little payment for product placement in the past, but that has shifted so there are well over one-billion dollars in product placements this year alone.
Newell says new technology that makes it easier to bypass commercials has caught the attention of advertisers. Newell says advertisers are “extremely nervous about things like Ti-vo,” and with a product placement, the product is right in the show and you can’t zip by it. Newell says advertisers are just trying to make their way back into your view. He says advertisers are also getting a little bit concerned about the effectiveness of TV commercials as a whole, as he says there are more commercials and things are getting a little crowded.
But does seeing your favorite soap or sitcom star sipping a particular soda make you want to buy that product? Newell says that’s a question that isn’t clear. Newell says they’re still not completely sure how a commercial impacts behavior and the same is true for product placement. Newell says advertisers think the commercials are effective. And he says the advertisers don’t want to see a competing product shown, while theirs is not.